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On November 19, 2024, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) initiated public solicitation of opinions on 8 mandatory national standards (draft for comments) including "Requirements for restricted use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic products" (GB XXXX—XXXX). The deadline for submitting opinions is January 18, 2025.
Background
China’s RoHS control is governed under the legislation framwork of “Administrative Measures on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances” (China RoHS 2). The recommended national standard GB/T 26572-2011 Requirements of Concentration Limits for Certain Restricted Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products and recommended industry standard SJ/T 11364-2014 Marking for the Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products are currently the main supporting standards for China RoHS 2.
However, due to the inconsistency between the recommended nature of these standards and the mandatory nature of the regulations, and the legality of these standards is not explicitly stated in China RoHS 2, companies often fail to understand the mandatory nature assciated with these supporting standards, leading to ineffective enforcement of RoHS regulations.
Major changes
The proposed standard merges GB/T 26572-2011 and SJ/T 11364-2014 into one mandatory GB standard, aligning with the mandatory nature of China RoHS 2 while also updating technical requirements necessary to adapt to industry development. The main updates of technical content include:
Expand the types of restricted hazardous substances from six to ten to align with the EU RoHS Directive (2011/65/EU). This is also consistent with the first amendment of GB/T 26572-2011 published in June 2024. The RoHS restricted substances and their corresponding concentration limits are listed below:
| Restricted Substances | Concentration Limit |
| Lead (Pb) | ≤ 0.1% |
| Mercury (Hg) | ≤ 0.1% |
| Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] | ≤ 0.1% |
| Polybrominated biphenyls(PBB) | ≤ 0.1% |
| Polybrominated diphenyl Ethers (PBDE) | ≤ 0.1% |
| Cadmium (Cd) | ≤ 0.01% |
Diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP) | ≤ 0.1% |
Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) | ≤ 0.1% |
Benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP) | ≤ 0.1% |
Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) | ≤ 0.1% |
Stipulate that GB/T 39560 series shall be the applicable testing standard for determination of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic products;
Introduce digital marking methods such as QR codes and screen displays, in order to reduce the RoHS compliance costs for companies;
Increase requirements for conformity assessment supporting documents to include test reports covering high-risk components that contain hazardous substances in Annex B of this proposed standard as follows:
| No. | Product name | High-risk components that contain hazardous substances |
| 1 | Refrigerator | Compressor components, various types of PCBA components, insulation materials, sealing gaskets, various cable sheaths, and display screen components (if applicable) |
| 2 | Air conditioner | Compressor components, various types of PCBA components, insulation materials, sealing gaskets, various cable sheaths, and display screen components (if applicable) |
| 3 | Washing machine | Motor components, various types of PCBA components, sealing gaskets, various cable sheaths, and display screen components (if applicable) |
| 4 | Electric water heater | Heating rod components, various types of PCBA components, insulation materials, various metal pipe fittings, various cable sheaths, and display screen components (if applicable) |
| 5 | Printer | PCBA components in power supply parts or power adapters, data processing PCBA components, various cable sheaths, and display screen components (if applicable) |
| 6 | Copier | PCBA components in power supply parts or power adapters, data processing PCBA components, various cable sheaths, scanning components, and display screen components (if applicable) |
| 7 | Fax machine | PCBA components in power supply parts or power adapters, data processing PCBA components, various cable sheaths, and display screen components (if applicable) |
| 8 | Television | PCBA components in power supply parts or power adapters, data processing PCBA components, various types of PCBA components, various cable sheaths, and display screen components |
| 9 | Monitor | PCBA components in power supply parts or power adapters, data processing PCBA components, various cable sheaths, and display screen components |
| 10 | Personal computer | Motherboard PCBA, power supply PCBA, hard drive, memory, various cable sheaths, display screen components (if applicable), and battery components (if applicable) |
| 11 | Mobile communication handset | Various types of PCBA components, display screen components, battery components, and various cable sheaths. |
| 12 | Standalone telephone | Various types of PCBA components, various cable sheaths, display screen components (if applicable), and battery components (if applicable) |
| Note: PCBA stands for Printed Circuit Board Assembly, which refers to the process of assembling electronic components, connectors, plugs, digital logic gates, microcontrollers, and other elements onto a printed circuit board (PCB). This assembly is followed by various soldering and plugging processes to form a complete electronic functional module. | ||
Increase inspection rules to support the industry in continuously ensuring RoHS compliance during the regular production process of electrical and electronic products.
Transition period
The GB standard is planned to become effective one year following its publication. Meanwhile, the first amendment to GB/T 26572-2011 is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2026. The revision of SJ/T 11364-2014 is currently in the approval stage and is anticipated to be released in December 2024, with enforcement starting in December 2025. Implementing these standards will offer a transition period for industries to gear up for the mandatory RoHS standard.
The proposed GB standard can be accessed here.
